Richmond residents investing in their hometown
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RICHMOND — Private investment by longtime local residents is changing what people see when they come into Richmond.
For some, like major downtown property and business owner Gary Nash, investing in Richmond is nothing new. He's been a business owner here since he bought the gas station where he worked part time right out of high school. Recently, he replaced the aging building that houses his K & G Hardware store, Main Street Fuel, and gasoline and used car sales businesses with a modern building, huge by comparison.
He also has other big plans, like developing a marina on the Kennebec River. Currently, those plans are in the state permitting process.
Staff photo Gary Emmons, who grew up in Richmond, is the owner of Exit 26 Quik Stop.
Nash also owns several other buildings in the area just uphill from the river which makes up Richmond's downtown.
"It's not just Richmond, it's the whole area around here, which basically has an atmosphere of good people, and a country setting. But we're also within 30 to 45 minutes of both Augusta and the Portland area. It's an excellent location," said Nash, whose two daughters, Gaye and Kathy, and son, Casey, all work in the family's businesses, and often bring along their own children.
"I'm probably one of the luckiest guys in the world. My kids grew up here, now we all work together and now my grandchildren come in. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my children and my wife, Bert — my family. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't bother to grow. They're the ones who motivate me," he said.
For others, like Gary Emmons, who also grew up in Richmond and is now owner of Exit 26 Quik Stop, which recently passed the one year in business mark, investing in their hometown involved somewhat of a leap of faith that Richmond is big enough, or will grow enough, to support new retail businesses.
"We started from the ground up . . . it was just woods out here," the 25-year-old Emmons said as he helped serve a busy Thursday lunch crowd. "I started it because I saw a need for it and wanted to be self-employed. I was working for Marriott Hotels in New York but wanted to be back here, working for myself."
Emmons' modern convenience store, with takeout food and gas pumps, has benefited from the success of other businesses clustered around the Richmond exit of Interstate 95. The store has been so busy, Emmons said, he just added a second cash register to the checkout counter.
A steady stream of wood-laden trucks roll into and out of P.R. Russell, a wholesale maker of bark mulch just across Route 197 from Emmons' store. And Port City, a used car auction facility next door to P.R. Russell, has large wholesale auctions on Thursdays that, even though they aren't open to the public — car dealers only — bring traffic through the area and employ as many as 90 part-time workers.
"This is a good location, with great access to the highway," Emmons said.
So as the town shows a willingness to invest in itself by buying the vacant former Etonic building to be redeveloped for several small- to medium-sized businesses looking for space, private business is doing the same, some with help from town government's economic development efforts, some going it on their own.
"There's quite a bit happening right now," said Dave Tilton, one of two residents who work part time as the town's economic development officials. Darryl Sterling is the other official.
"Of course, right now, a lot of my time has been spent on the former Etonic," Tilton said. "But there are other businesses approaching us. Many businesses are finding the greater Portland environment has not been furnishing them with the kind of opportunities and the space they need to do what they want. So they're looking at coming here.
"There is a wave rolling out of that environment, and we're catching the ripple effect of that. We're within 45 minutes of key locations, that kind of makes us unique."
Nash said he built his new Main Street building, in part, to improve the business but also to improve the look and feel of the downtown. The new store is built further back from the road, giving the Main Street area in front of it a more open appearance and freeing up space for parking.
He expressed no worry over building a new hardware store in a small town while so-called "big box" home improvement stores have sprung up both to the north and south of Richmond.
"There are still people, like me, who want to be treated like you're not just a number in a computer," Nash said. "Sometimes it feels like you can't do anything on a handshake anymore, you have to go through attorneys and contracts. And not everybody is a fan of that. Here, we still know most of our customers on a first-name basis, it's nice that way.
"I still believe, given the opportunity to buy local, I think people will do it. Without the support of local people, we wouldn't be where we are today."
And Nash, 56, also owner of the large gray building across the street from Main Street Fuel which houses NAPA Auto Parts and several apartments, is in the middle of adding yet another business to the Nash family holdings.
With the help of local resident Jack Joyce, who offered to help with the paperwork and permitting process, Nash is looking to develop a new, 36-slip marina just below the downtown at the site of the former, 1900-era T.J. Southard shipyard.
"When that property became available we grabbed it," Nash said. "That river is a fabulous waterway, and I feel property along it will become more and more valuable. Jack (Joyce) came to me looking for a place for a boat slip, which was something I've heard over and over again from other boat owners."
Other businesses in various stages of development include Gary Murphy's plans to build a car wash across the street from Richmond Variety, and multiple would-be business owners who have made inquiries of the town's economic development officials Tilton and Sterling, including an architect and sculptor and a dancer considering opening a dance school.
"We're being approached by people from what I guess you could call the arts and cultural sector, who have developed an interest in Richmond," Tilton said. "We're starting to get a new direction of business development here. We're adding a level of business diversity Richmond could use."
To reach Keith Edwards
Phone: 621-5647